Collar retainer



March 27, 1962 w. DZUS COLLAR RETAINER Filed Sept. 8, 1958 INVENTOR.

W/zz 07/7 )2 Vs United States Patent Qfllice $25,528 Patented Mar. 27, 1962 3,026,528 COLLAR RETAINER William Dzus, West Islip, NY. Dzus Fastener Co., Inc., Babylon, N.Y.) Filed Sept. 8, 1958, Ser. No. 759,538 1 Claim. (Cl. 2-132) This invention relates to an improved collar retainer for properly positioning the points of a soft shirt collar.

Shirts with soft collars are popular because they are comfortable and while they are fresh and newly laundered they present an attractive, natural appearance. However, soft collars present a well recognized problem of long standing in the art. Thus, the collar points become readily creased and wrinkled and after they have been used a little while they invariably bend upwardly at an angle.

Attempts have been made to solve this problem by buttoning the points to the shirt beneath the collar or by providing various types of collar stays and attachments. However, where the collar points are buttoned to the shirt the collar is restrained from movement with respect to the shirt and when the wearer turns his head or bends his neck the collar is distorted and either becomes creased or wrinkled or it is stretched. The stays and attachments are frequently complicated and are difficult to assemble with the collar. When attached, they impart to the collar an unnatural stretched appearance.

It is an object of the present invention to overcome the difliculties heretofore encountered and to provide an improved collar retainer for use with soft shirt collars which holds the collar point in proper position minimizing or eliminating creasing or wrinkling thereof and preventing it from bending upwardly while at the same time preserving the attractive, natural rolled condition of the collar point.

A further object is the provision of an improved collar retainer having the above indicated advantages and characteristics which also permits the collar to move relative to the shirt to which it is attached so that the collar is not distorted by turning of the head or bending of the neck of the wearer.

Other objects include the provision of a relatively simple collar retainer which can be readily assembled with a collar point and when in use presents an attractive, natural appearance resembling a masculine article of jewelry.

My invention contemplates the provision of a collar retainer for use with a soft shirt collar having a buttonhole near the tip of the collar point and consisting of a body member formed with a pair of spaced flanged portions connected by a reduced neck portion of a length to extend through the buttonhole with the flanged portions positioned on opposite sides of the collar point in proximate relation thereto. The retainer should be of a weight to retain the collar point in its attractive, natural rolled position without stretching or distortion. It should also permit relative movement between the collar and shirt to which it is attached when the wearer turns his head or bends his neck.

In the accompanying drawing:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a shirt having a soft collar attached thereto illustrating a collar retainer embodied in my invention assembled with one of the collar points and illustrating a second retainer ready to be assembled with the other collar point;

FIG. 2 is a detailed view of one of the collar points having a collar retainer assembled therewith and illustrating the attractive, natural rolled condition of the collar point;

FIG. 3 is a detailed sectional view through one of the collar retainers showing the adjacent portions of the collar point;

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of one of the collar retainers taken from an angle below the plane of the retainer; and

FIG. 5 is a bottom plan view of the retainer.

My improved collar retainer is particularly suitable for use with a soft collar and, in the accompanying drawing, I have shown a soft collar 10 attached to a shirt 11.

The shirt buttons at the front in the usual manner indicated at 12. Extending around the open upper end of the shirt inside the collar is the usual neck band 13. At the front of the shirt the collar is provided with a pair of depending points 14 in the usual manner and, for the purposes of my present invention, each of these points is provided with a buttonhole 15 for receiving my improved retainer. In FIG. 1, one of my improved retainers 16 is illustrated as assembled with the collar point on the left side of the shirt while another of the improved retainers is shown in position ready to be assembled with the right-hand collar point.

My improved retainer comprises a body member having a pair of spaced flanged portions 1'7 and 18 interconnected by a reduced neck 19. The neck 19 is of suflicient length so that when it is inserted in the buttonhole of one of the collar points the two flanged portions are positioned on opposite sides of the collar point in close proximity thereto. The flanged portions should be of a size to retain the body member assembled with the buttonhole when it has been inserted therein as shown in FIGS. 1, 2 and 3. In this connection, the inner flanged member 17 is preferably sufficiently small so that it can be inserted through the buttonhole from the outer surface of the collar point to enable the retainer to be readily assembled with the collar point. The other flanged portion is preferably large enough to substantially cover the buttonhole and conceal it from view and it is of attractive, ornamental design so as to present the attractive appearance of a masculine article of jewelry.

I have found that the weight of the retainer is important in carrying out my invention. Thus, if the retainer is too light it will not retain the collar point in proper position while the shirt is in use with the result that the collar point can become creased and wrinkled and can bend upwardly. On the other hand, if the retainer is too heavy it will stretch and distort the collar point and destroy the attractive, natural rolled appearance thereof. Accordingly each of the retainers should be of sulficient weight to hold the collar point in proper position while in use and preserve the attractive, natural rolled appearance thereof without stretching or distorting the collar point.

In the case of a soft collar made of the various textile fabrics now commonly used in shirts and shirt collars, I have found that a retainer of the indicated type weighing between 0.006 and 0.010 lb. serves very satisfactorily.

In using my improved collar retainer, I provide a shirt having a soft collar with a buttonhole located adjacent the tip of each collar point. I use a pair of collar retainers of the herein described type and insert the smaller flanges through the buttonholes from either side of the collar. In this connection the flanges may be of equal size or where flanges of different sizes are employed the larger flange may be disposed either on the inside or the outside of the collar. However, I prefer to have the larger flange disposed on the outside of the collar so as to substantially cover the buttonhole. In this connection the larger flanges present an ornamental, attractive appearance similar to an article of masculine jewelry. The retainers serve to hold the collar points in their natural rolled, depending position while at the same time permitting relative movement between the collar and the shirt when the wearer turns his head or bends his neck. The retainers serve effectively to prevent the collar points from becoming creased or wrinkled or from flaring upwardly.

Modifications may be made in the illustrated and described embodiment of my invention without departing from the invention as defined in the accompanying claim.

I claim:

The improved combination of a shirt collar and retainer which comprises a collar assembly consisting of a neck band portion and an attached folded down soft collar terminating in two collar points each formed with a buttonhole near the tip of the point and a pair of collar retainers mounted in said buttonholes and each consisting of a pair of spaced flanges with an interconnecting reduced neck portion, said neck portions of the retainers being disposed in said buttonholes and being of a length so that the flanges are disposed on opposite surfaces of the collar in close proximity thereto, and said flanges being of a size to retain the body member in the buttonhole with one of said flanges of each retainer being relatively small and of a size so that it may be inserted through the buttonhole of the collar and the other flange of each retainer being relatively larger and overlying the outer surface of the collar point surrounding the buttonhole so that the retainers conceal the buttonholes from view, each of said retainers having a mass of between approximately 0.006 and 0.010 lb. so as to normally retain the collar point in natural depending rolled condition without distortion or stretching while at the same time permitting movement thereof relative to the shirt to which the collar is attached.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 365,853 Palmer July 5, 1887 1,276,479 Becker Aug. 20, 1918 1,741,060 Levenson Dec. 24, 1929 2,333,603 Walker Nov. 2, 1943 2,550,309 Stancombe Apr. 24, 1951 

